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You know who doesn’t think training camp should be a case of The More the Merrier?

Players who are worried about being elbowed out of the way by somebody better.

And that’s just the way Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish wants it.

MacTavish added yet another D-man to an already crowded mix Thursday when he brought former Oiler Denis Grebeshkov back to Edmonton on a one-year contract. An Oilers employee tweeted that the deal is worth $1.5 million.

“I want a lot of competition for those last 5-6-7-8 jobs in training camp,” MacTavish said last week. “That level of competition is going to help everybody prepare.

Grebeshkov's first goal of 2009

“It’s going to look like we have a lot of defencemen, but that’s going to help the competitive level, and whoever does stay is going to be ready to play.”

MacTavish said he wants everyone looking over their shoulder, especially in the depth positions, where players are expected to provide energy and intensity with every shift.

“There has to be some competition there, guys competing for spots, especially in that bottom end of your lineup,” he said.

“They have to be afraid to lose their spot in the lineup. If you’re playing the game with no fear in the third and fourth line, you tend to do nothing.”

Grebeshkov, still only 29, spent three years with Edmonton before going to Nashville at the 2010 trade deadline. He played six games with the Preds before being injured in the playoffs.

He spent the last three years in the KHL, with St. Petersburg SKA and Khanty-Mansiysk. He had zero goals and eight assists and was minus 11 in 44 games last year.

He is one of two Russian defencemen coming over this fall. Belov, 26, is regarded as one of the better defencemen in the KHL and could be a wildcard in the whole blueline mix.

The NHL is a lot different than the KHL, but there were a lot of NHL teams interested in bringing the 6-3, 185-pounder over, so there could be something there.

SO LONG STOCKTON

The Oilers have changed horses in the East Coast Hockey League. They’ve ended their seven-year affiliation with the Stockton Thunder and are now in a one-year deal with the Bakersfield Condors.

“The City of Bakersfield deserves an affiliation of this calibre,” said Condors GM John Olver. “The Edmonton Oilers represent one of the most storied and respected franchises in the NHL. This partnership will immediately enhance our on-ice success and will contribute greatly to restoring our winning tradition.”

Up to now the Condors’ two greatest claims to fame were offering a contract to Justin Bieber and when an actual condor ran amuck during a pre-game ceremony last year. The YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcd3DKWlqUk is definitely worth a look.

NO SCHEDULE AGAIN

The NHL continues to struggle with the ability to do things right.

Presented with a perfect 48-hour dead zone when virtually nothing else was happening in the sports world, the NHL could have taken centre stage in many U.S. markets by releasing the 2013-14 schedule, complete with all the new divisions and rivalries.

Instead, they double-clutched, twice, and missed the chance.

Rather than releasing the schedule with the caveat “pending an NHL-Olympic agreement” they decided to scrap Wednesday’s schedule release, then scrap it again on Thursday, and won’t release it until they finalize participation in the 2014 Winter Games.

“There has been no final agreement on the terms of Olympic participation at this point,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told NHL.com. “And unless, or until, there is, the release of the 2013-14 regular-season schedule would be premature.

“Having said that, we hope that a final resolution on both matters can be achieved in the very near future.”

As Advertised in the Edmonton SUN

Oilers up their blue-line depth with Grebeshkov signing

You know who doesn’t think training camp should be a case of The More the Merrier?

Players who are worried about being elbowed out of the way by somebody better.

And that’s just the way Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish wants it.

MacTavish added yet another D-man to an already crowded mix Thursday when he brought former Oiler Denis Grebeshkov back to Edmonton on a one-year contract. An Oilers employee tweeted that the deal is worth $1.5 million.